Cadillac CT6's surround-view cameras can act like a dashcam
Using a built-in SD card slot and four exterior cameras, Cadillac's latest luxury car can keep a set of eyes on the environment.
When I first saw 360-degree camera technology in cars, I wondered how long it would be before some automaker decided to use them to bolster the car's security system. Well, thanks to a bit of technology it borrowed from other General Motors vehicles, it appears Cadillac's finally delivered 360-degree security.
Cadillac's new CT6 sedan gives you an optional four exterior cameras and a built-in video recording system to act as a dashcam. As long as the car's rocking the optional Surround Vision camera system, you'll get this trick recording system too.
It can operate in one of two modes, configurable by the driver using the infotainment touchscreen. The first mode records video as you drive, using just the front and rear cameras. The second mode is more of a security system: it activates the whole surround-view system whenever the car has been "disturbed" and the security system is activated.
The car comes standard with a 32-gigabyte SD card, which is good for about 32 hours of filming. Once the card is full, it will record over the oldest data on the card. But you can tell the car to save a specific chunk of footage, whether it's a road you liked driving or a collision you filmed, which won't be deleted or recorded over at all.
This is quite similar to the Performance Data Recorder system first seen on the Corvette. In that application, which has also migrated to certain Cadillac performance vehicles, it records a forward-facing camera feed and can overlay data (RPM, throttle position, g-forces, and so on) onto the recording for later studying or showing off.
